Phillies Re-Sign Michael Martinez

A week after deciding to become a free agent, the Phillies have re-signed infielder Michael Martinez to a minor-league contract according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. Since being acquired by the Phillies as a Rule 5 draft pick before the 2011 season, Martinez has hit .187/.234/.261 in 396 PA.

Martinez has played all three outfield positions, as well as second, third, and short for the Phillies. FanGraphs indicates Martinez has cost the Phillies one and a half wins over the last three seasons while playing only slightly positive defense according to UZR.

Analysis: Why, why, why? Martinez, at 31, is not getting any younger, and there are plenty of younger and, more importantly better, utility players.

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27 Comments

Mike

October 17, 2013 at 10:45 pm

No word can express how mad I am right now. They really RE-signed probably the worst player in Major League Baseball, albeit a minor league contract, he’ll get called anyway up to void someone who deserves a shot.

Mini-Mart…..really? Ruben is certainly joking. Or maybe he is serious. Maybe Mini-Mart is a critical part of Ruben’s larger rebuilding plan that includes playing him at 2nd base moving Utley to 1st base, with MIni-Mart hitting cleanup.

Even for minor league depth im sure they could have done better least someone with a little more upside. Rube must be still thinking Mini is going to break through at any moment. While anything is possible i would rather take my chances elsewhere.

This is a nearly meaningless move which will make no difference in whether the Phils are competitive in either 2014 or the long term. It may be indicative of larger issues in player evaluation in the organization, but while there are many reasons one could point to for firing Amaro, this particular signing would not be one.

Who cares. If he’s on a minor league deal, he’s not clogging up the 40 man roster; and although he could conceivably take ABs from some other minor league dud, he also could be released if he gets in the way, and the team wouldn’t lose much cash.

If he hasn’t actually been inked, I’m sure that another basically worthless player can be signed to strike out instead. A, AA, and AAA are full of them, and some of them can’t even field, either.